There was more of the same from Mulgrew's fellow prankster, Scott Brown, in reference to the fact that before Celtic persuaded Hibs to sell Allan the player had been the subject of a prolonged pursuit by Rangers - and also to his known allegiance to the Ibrox club.

Allan was not in the Celtic squad for Saturday's 4-2 home victory over Inverness but he was received warmly when introduced to the crowd.

"I am not surprised he got a good reception," said Leigh Griffiths, scorer of Celtic's second. "Celtic fans will welcome anyone, regardless of who they are or where he came from.

Issue

"It won't be an issue. It doesn't matter if you support Rangers or East Stirling. As soon as you pull on that Celtic jersey the fans will take to you straight away.

"He wasn't even in the dressing room door and Charlie Mulgrew was winding him up! It will remain behind closed doors but was great banter from the likes of Charlie and Scott Brown. It was good fun but I am sure he will take it in his stride."

What the Hoops support would now like to see Celtic take in their stride is Wednesday's encounter with Malmo in the first leg of their Champions League play-off. Malmo beat Gefle 2-0 on Saturday.

Celtic, meanwhile, are two points behind newly promoted Hearts, whose 2-1 win at Ross County was their fourth successive league victory.

The contest at Celtic Park was effectively over by the 69th minute, when Stuart Armstrong's second of the afternoon made it 4-0 to the home side, for whom Mikael Lustig had opened the scoring with an early header.